a good research project would be on auto-immune diseases. ie diseases caused by your own immune system going nuts for no reason, or overreacting to a very small problem. I would like to know more about that. also look into the actual purpose of a fever, because fevers are caused by your body, but they dont speed up the "get better" rate. and people take things to lower the fever. if the fever helped you, why woud you want to supresss it. the get better rate of someone on a drug that lowers fevers and a person who lets their fever live is the same.

The fever helps our body to create unfavorable environment in order to supress the proliferation of pathogens inside our body. Much pathogens inside higher our temperature. This situation is good to inhibit the pathogens population but in the other hand, too high body temperature will break the homeostasis, for instance it affects the work of nervous system, destroy proteins especially hormones and enzymes that is harmful, and expends too much energy. That's why we need to lower the fever.

@Dr.Stein
I think that fever comes from IL-1 (interleukin-1) that's transported to the cerebellum which maintain the body's temperature. When cerebellum receive IL-1, it will increase the body temperature in order to make the T cells and macrophages reproduce quickly and destroy the pathogen bacterias..

Q: Why are chemists great for solving problems?
A: They have all the solutions.

The fact still is that higher temperature cause unfavourable environment to some bacteria. The same is in inflamation, the attacked place has higher temperature than other tissue around in order to make more unfavourable environment for pathogens which inflamation cause.

When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. (Sherlock Holmes)

victor wrote:@Dr.SteinI think that fever comes from IL-1 (interleukin-1) that's transported to the cerebellum which maintain the body's temperature. When cerebellum receive IL-1, it will increase the body temperature in order to make the T cells and macrophages reproduce quickly and destroy the pathogen bacterias..

IL-1 is a cytokine and also a growth factor that secretes by activated cells, for example during infection, it stimulates immune system cells that fight disease, and is involved in inflammatory responses. Yes you are right in the end of your statement, it will stimulates effector cells to compete the infectious agent(s).

The control of body temperature is not in cerebellum, it is in hypothalamus. Beside acts on immune cells, IL-1 also acts in nervous system, there is where the nervous system has a connection to immune system*. IL-1 will be a stimulus to neuron, a signal that tell "there is pathogens inside the body" and then hypothalamus will regulate the body temperature. The level of IL-1 is increased during the infection or inflammatory reaction that is adequate to be a signal for neuron in hypothalamus.

* This a highlight to psychocomatic disease and stress. Do not think or do not feel you are sick, stressful, etc because it will stimulate your adrenal glands to secrete adrenalin which stimulates body cells to produce IL-1 and soon you will be sick or stressful for real

protozoan wrote:The fact still is that higher temperature cause unfavourable environment to some bacteria. The same is in inflamation, the attacked place has higher temperature than other tissue around in order to make more unfavourable environment for pathogens which inflamation cause.

The higher temperature in local area, that is the idea of inflammation, remember the word flame, inflame In inflammatory reaction, it feels hot and the color of local tissue is red because it is the localization of blood flows to bring phagocytes, lymphocytes, complements, etc to the site of infection. The local cells and macrophages in the infected area will release IL-1, IL-2 and chemokine to attrack those immunocompetent cells to the site of infection. Also the toxin released by pathogens, for instance bacteria, will attrack them into that area as well.

I think that our immune system evolute slower that the pathogen bacterias or viruses...it's just like an old wagon versus ferrari F340.. Um, Dr.Stein...it's just only the non-specific immune system right??

Q: Why are chemists great for solving problems?
A: They have all the solutions.